dipped.in.[fish]sauce

"As details emerged about Wong's life -- recently laid off, troubled by poor language skills, unable to find a toehold in the United States -- many Vietnamese here saw their own struggles in his travails. It was a reminder, as if they needed one, that their transition from war-torn Vietnam to Binghamton has not always been easy." - LA Times

If I had a chance to catch Jiverly before he blocked the entrance of the immigration services building, this is what I would share with him.

Jiverly,

You are not alone. Your life here in America as a refugee from Vietnam is difficult, painful beyond imagination. You were forced here to America because your homeland was plagued with war. You had no choice. You didn't want to come here, you had to come here - for survival, for freedom, for an opportunity to live a better life. You got here and you were overwhelmed with challenges to integrate everything you know...into a not-so-accepting-nor-embracing American culture. You were not an immigrant, you were a refugee. People probably didn't understand that. You felt stuck. Stuck right in the middle. The dark and confusing middle between your Vietnamese and American identities. You didn't speak English well enough to be welcomed by your co-workers. Yet you didn't speak Vietnamse well enough to feel comfortable at Vietnamese social gatherings. You wondered, "Where do I stand in this world? Where do I belong? Where is my home?" You moved back and forth between the coasts. Moving was easy for you, fleeing was easy. You did it once before already. From the land of your birth. So what's another two or three more times? Dislocation, displacement. You found comfort in displacing yourself for months on end, trying your hardest to find your niche, and doing so without much support, resources, and empowerment.

Jiverly, your frustration and sense of loss are not your fault. You did not breed this culture, it bred you. Vietnamese roots watered with American-influenced values. It wasn't you who couldn't fit in. It was society that couldn't fit you in.

Jiverly, you're not alone.

Danielle